A/N: Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing. I hope this chapter answers some of your questions!

Oh and by the way, this chap is 13 pages on Word, so settle in and enjoy!

Repercussions

By: Ada C. Eliana

Chapter 21: The Other Chris

Tyler orbed in, clearly shaken. "Is everybody okay?" he asked.

Lena looked up from where she was sitting on the floor with a book spread on her lap. "We're fine, what's wrong?"

"Did you feel that before? That massive surge of power? I was worried that you might be in trouble."

"We're fine, I promise, well… most of us anyway."

"Oh. Okay. Well good. You know, because… well… anyway… can I do anything to help, now that I'm here and all?"

"Probably not. But you're always welcome to sit around twiddling your thumbs with us."

"Well, catch me up, where are we at?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

"What's taking Leo so long?" Piper asked from where she was scrying with Phoebe. "I wish he would get back here and tell us what the Elders had to say."

"Maybe they're actually being helpful this time," Phoebe suggested. "As far as I'm concerned, the longer he's up there, the better."

"Just come down there with me, please!" Leo cried, his hands holding Chris – or Peter or whoever he was' shoulders desperately. "If anything – you're a whitelighter, you have to help, please!"

"All right," Peter sighed. Clearly the man was distraught, but he really did not see how he could help at all. Before he had the chance to say anything else, Leo had orbed the pair into the Halliwell Manor.

From his vantage point in the doorway of the attic, Peter watched the goings-on with interest. A young blond stood at the podium staring at the Book of Shadows. A young blonde guy stood at a podium, flicking quickly through the Book of Shadows. Two sisters were bent over a table, spinning scrying crystals. A dark haired man was looking over a sheet of paper next to summoning materials. And off to the side a young woman sat with a large book in her lap. Beside her was someone Peter recognized.

Sensing their presence, everyone in the room looked up abruptly, their eyes going wide with surprise and relief. "Chris, oh God, Chris!" the blond shouted, running to him. Before Peter could protest, the man had put his arms around him, clutching him tightly.

Peter pushed Wyatt off of him, trying to back up, but stuck by Leo's presence behind him. Seeing no other way out, Peter orbed to the other side of the room. He caught eyes with Tyler for a moment before Tyler let out a crestfallen, "Uh-oh."

"Look," Peter began, putting up his hands to ward off the advances of the others. "I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not who you think I am. My name's Peter, and I'm a whitelighter, and I am out of here if one more person tries to hug me."

"Okay Chri… I mean, Peter," Leo said calmly. "We just need to talk to you. Come on, let's go downstairs, okay?"

He obliged, shooting Tyler a curious look. The other whitelighter shrugged defensively and the whole of the family went down to the living room, piling onto couches and not ripping their sight from Peter for one instant.

"Leo, what's going on, what's wrong with Chris?" Piper demanded of her husband.

"I don't think he is Chris, not the Chris who's missing anyway. I ran into him 'Up There,' he's a whitelighter."

"Then why does he look exactly like Chris?" Wyatt asked angrily. For one moment, one fucking moment he thought that his brother was safe, but he wasn't. This was probably just one more thing the Elders had done to punish his family.

"I… I think he… he might be… the other Chris," Leo whispered, his voice so soft they could barely hear him.

"So my husband and kids are off to the middle-of-nowhere for safety, thanks a lot, Alec!" Paige exclaimed as she orbed into the room. Everyone just turned and looked at her dumbly.

"Did I miss something?" she asked. Then she turned and saw Chris. Her hands flew up to her face in surprise.

"Um yeah… you did…" Phoebe responded.

"Apparently he isn't our Chris though," Alec clarified. "Leo said he was… "the other Chris"."

Paige looked shocked. "The… the other one? You mean… you mean… Chris, future-boy Chris?" she said. Leo nodded miserably and Paige latched her eyes onto the young man. He actually looked remarkably like future-Chris had when he first arrived, spiky hair and all.

"But the Elders… they said his soul went into the baby… that's what they told us!" Piper shouted.

Noticing that the boy they were discussing and studying like a lab specimen seemed less than pleased, Phoebe tried to include him in this conversation. "Okay, Peter, is it?" Phoebe asked, watching him closely. He looked exactly like Chris, even down to his facial expressions. Though the look he was shooting them now had more often been sighted on the first Chris, the one from the future who died, than her easygoing nephew. "Uh, how long have you been a whitelighter?" she asked quickly.

"About twenty-two years," Peter answered, grateful that she was not pestering him about this Chris person. The whole family must be manic for them to confuse him, a whitelighter – and being a whitelighter clearly implied being dead – for their missing nephew. And whatever that future business and baby stuff, well that went a little out of his understanding as well. However his response had everyone sharing meaningful glances – the middle-aged people anyway, the twenty-something boy looked confused, and the girl seemed about to swoon.

"How did you die?" Phoebe pushed.

"I… I don't know," Peter admitted, a bit ashamed.

"You don't know? How could you not know?" Piper sputtered.

"The Elders said it was too painful or something, okay?" Another glance. "What is going on here?" Peter turned his attention to fellow whitelighter Tyler. "Tyler, are these your charges? Can you tell me what's going on?"

"You know him?" Piper demanded of Tyler, ire in her eyes.

"We ran across each other once or twice," Tyler said, taking a step back from Piper, and her hands which were poised to blow him up.

"And you didn't tell us? You didn't tell me?" Lena asked, hurt.

"The Elders didn't want you to know about him!"

"So he is Chris? The Chris who died here twenty-two years ago?" Phoebe demanded. Peter alternated his stare between the two, completely at a loss.

Tyler paused for a moment, but a glare from Lena had him babbling the truth. "Yes, he is Chris, future Chris, older Chris, whatever, you know who he is, and here he is!"

"Um… my name is Peter!"

Before anyone could respond, three demons shimmered into the room, fireballs at the ready. Peter and Tyler jumped back as the demons attacked the witches. Piper flicked her wrists, attempting to blow up the demons, she hit one, but all it did was sizzle his skin, his fireball landing straight and true at Paige. She tried to dodge but still received a nasty burn on her right shoulder. Phoebe levitated and kicked the demon in the chest, sending him flying into the stairwell. Lena sent a blast of fire at the other demon, who somehow bounced it back at her, knocking her back where her leg collided painfully with the coffee table, smashing it and sending bit of wood into the air. "Screw this," Wyatt muttered, taking his frustration of the past weeks out on the two demons, sending a blast of energy at them. The two demons immediately were vaporized.

Leo immediately went to Lena, whose leg was bleeding all over the floor. Tyler made to go to Paige, but Peter stepped in. "I'll do it," he offered.

He took Paige's hand in his, helping her to the couch, and then sitting beside her. He put his hands over her wounded shoulder, and a warm glow appeared. Paige stared at the whiteligher's eyes, seeing a softness there that the other Chris never really had. For a moment she felt truly sorry, knowing that if he were indeed the other Chris he would soon be remembering such awful things. Distantly, the voice of her onetime whitelighter from the future echoed in her mind. 'Healing, it's big…' Peter caught Paige's stare, and half-smiled at her uncomfortably.

Once everyone had been suitably healed, they returned to the problem at hand. Wyatt kept his gaze steady on Peter, wishing with everything he had that this person really was his brother; that Chris was not in mortal danger somewhere in the Underworld, suffering and alone.

"Okay, I don't understand what's going on here," Peter said, breaking the ice.

"I'm going to go see the Elders and get some answers," Leo announced, standing. Peter shot him a look that clearly read 'you're just going to leave me here?' with a classic future-Chris frown. Leo merely grimaced before orbing away.

"Chris… er… Peter… er… Chris… er…" Lena stuttered.

"Yeah?" Peter asked annoyed.

"Um, want to see some pictures of yourself all alive and non-whitelighter and stuff?" Lena asked.

"Sure, why not?" Peter sighed, completely lost, but wanting more than anything to get away from the intense stares of the Charmed Ones. She stood up and grabbed his hand, such a simple gesture, but Peter seemed surprised. Something about her seemed oddly familiar however, and as she dragged him off the couch he caught Wyatt's eye, and felt a cold shiver run through him.

Lena led him out to the conservatory, leaving the rest of her family to undoubtedly discuss him. She knew more about 'the other Chris' than Wyatt, mostly because her mother was the one with secret-keeping problems, and she had always been intuitive, having inherited her mother's powers. "They keep a little scrapbook about you out here," she explained, still holding his hand tightly. "Oh, and by the way, my name's Lena."

"I still don't get this," Peter sighed, following her.

"Well when Uncle Leo gets back, I think we'll have the answers we're looking for," Lena said gently.

"I just never imagined this sort of thing. They just told me I couldn't remember my life, and I don't know, there wasn't anything I could do about it, so…"

"So you threw yourself into your work and forced yourself to not think about it?" Lena questioned, grabbing a book from the shelf and then pulling him to sit with her on the couch.

"Uh… yeah."

"Classic Halliwell. Facing our issues is not something we're particularly good at. And you, cousin, are no exception," Lena sighed, opening the book.

"So your cousin, this Chris guy, did something bad happen to him? Everyone seems pretty upset," Peter questioned. He was a whitelighter and he cared for the welfare of people in general, and witches more so.

"He uh… he was taken by demons. We haven't been able to find him," Lena muttered, her hands swiping angrily at her eyes and the tears which had been falling off and on since Chris disappeared. She tried not to think about what Chris had turned into, and was just glad that he seemed to not be listening in at the moment.

"I'm sorry," Peter said, placing his hand comfortingly over hers.

"Not your fault," Lena responded. She composed herself and then plopped the book down in front of them. "See, that's you with baby Wyatt." Lena pointed to a snapshot of adult Chris and baby Wyatt playing together in the conservatory. Peter looked mesmerized by it, studying his face in the photo. She flipped the page. "And there you are with my mom – Phoebe, writing a spell." Someone had taken this photo of the pair concentrating intently on what they were writing, their heads pressed together. "Here's you and Aunt Paige making potions. Magic was your favorite past-time back then."

"These actually seem… familiar," Peter said, sounding slightly strange, as if afraid of the idea that he really was this guy. The next page contained various spells Chris had hand-written, and Peter recognized his own writing. What Peter saw next had his heart catching in his throat. A small engagement ring sat inside a tiny plastic bag, glued into the scrapbook.

"Yeah uh… apparently you were engaged in the future… but she died."

"Why are you doing this?" Peter asked Lena suddenly.

She pushed her hair out of her face and turned to him inquisitively. "Doing what?"

"Wasting your time here, showing me photos and stuff. You're probably really worried about Chris, you should be looking for him."

"I've been searching for him for weeks and I haven't found him yet," Lena said sadly. "But you are Chris, sort of, and you're just as important to me, okay?" She flashed him a quick smile.

"Ok, who the hell is this guy?" Wyatt demanded as soon as Peter and Lena left the room.

"He's your brother… sort of…" Phoebe began, looking slightly confused. "This time travel stuff really screws me up…"

"All right, twenty or so years ago, a whitelighter came from the future. He called himself Chris Perry, and he said he was here to prevent a demon from getting at you – baby you," Piper explained. "A while later, we found out he was actually a Halliwell too – your brother, and he…" Piper stopped, trying to figure out how to word the next part without hurting Wyatt.

"He was really here to prevent someone from turning you evil," Paige finished hurriedly.

"For… what…?" Wyatt choked. "I turned evil?"

"Yeah… in an alternate future – the future 'that guy' came from. But he fixed it, and so you're not evil now, you're good." Paige hoped that if they breezed through the explanation it would affect Wyatt less.

"So then why is he a whitelighter now? Why didn't he just go back to the future?" Wyatt asked, pushing aside the whole 'he was evil' notion to focus on the problem at hand.

"Well… the other Chris… he never got to finish his mission, because…" Paige felt tears form in her eyes and let her sentence die, wiping at her eyes.

"He died, honey," Phoebe finished with a sympathetic smile. Wyatt seemed to be in slight shock, so she ploughed on. "The Elders told us that his spirit had gone into the baby, so we… we never thought he was a whitelighter; that he was still out there, if we did…"

"He died? He died trying to save me? My own little brother? Because I was evil. Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Wyatt cursed, standing up and pacing.

"Baby, it's not your fault," Piper said, standing and embracing Wyatt, tears streaming down her cheeks. "He fixed everything, he saved the world. But now it's our turn to save him, okay?"

The Source flexed his fingers. "The Other has been found," he said tonelessly, turning to face his assistant. "He must be destroyed."

"I will have the darklighters deployed immediately, my liege," Dakian offered, bowing low before shimmering from the chamber.

"Yes, I do not want there to be any chance that he could come back. With this face the Charmed Ones will never vanquish me." He stepped before a mirror, regarding his reflection with esteem.

'Up there' Leo had just forced the Council of Elders to explain to him how exactly the first Chris was in his house calling himself Peter when they had specifically stated that his soul was in the Chris born twenty-three years ago.

"Chris disappeared during his conception, and when he did, his soul was split in two. One half to return as the Chris you knew, and the other to be born into the world. Then, when he died, we intercepted his soul to prevent it from moving on. We wiped his memories, and made him a whitelighter," Angelica explained calmly, as if discussing the weather, not them playing God with his son.

Leo just glared at them. "But you told us, you said that he had been reborn into baby Chris. I don't remember anything about split souls or whitelighters!"

"Whitelighters are not meant to have any contact with those they knew when alive. Your family may break a lot of rules but not that one."

"But you wiped his mind! And gave him a new name!"

"If he knew the truth he would not have stayed away from you and your family. At the time you all needed to focus on the child. You see, Leo, this is one of the intricacies of time travel. You could not have adult Chris and baby Chris living in the same house, being around each other all of the time!" the Elder named Jared exclaimed, wondering how Leo did not understand this.

"But why did you make him a whitelighter at all? He sacrificed himself enough for the greater good without this too!"

"Because the two souls need to merge back into one. This can only be done on Chris' twenty-third birthday. We were to explain everything to you the day before, and then allow your family to oversee the process," Angelica said simply.

"We could've sent him to the future right away, rather than keep him here saving witches for twenty-three years," Leo complained.

"Who's to say he would even have been alive then? As you can see, Chris would have been returned to a time when his other half had gone missing for weeks," Catherine jumped in.

"Well what am I supposed to do now? Chris is missing, you're right, and we can't find him. And I'm sure as hell not sending the other Chris back up here as Peter. He's staying with his family."

"We will allow that, his birthday is fast approaching and that day will hold your one and only chance of making him whole and alive," Catherine said. "And as for your 'missing' son, think about it Leo; the Underworld has been stirring for months, a new Source has taken the Oath, and your son only has half a soul. Just wonder on that and I am sure you will realize the implications as we have."

Leo felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. "Tell me what has to be done to make him whole."

Lena looked up abruptly from the scrapbook and Peter as Leo's orbs filled the entryway. His emotions swirled, an unpleasant mix of anger, fear, and regret. He saw Peter in the conservatory and marched right in, leaving the rest of the family demanding answers and chasing after him. Leo kneeled down in front of Peter, staring at him with such intensity that Peter had to look away.

"I know this must be an awful lot for you, but I have to ask you to remember who you really are," Leo whispered. Peter looked from Leo to Lena, who squeezed his hand comfortingly, and nodded.

"But the Elders… why would they do that? I don't understand. They're the paragons of good and they've never let me down, but why would they make it so I couldn't remember?" Everyone just stared at him for a moment in shock. Of course he did not remember that one of the so-called 'paragons of good' had actually killed him, but still, it was such a un-Chris thing to say. "Besides, how could any of you make me remember, if they did this?"

Catching on, Piper answered his question. "Because you're family, and you have the Charmed Ones on your side."

"Do you remember anything, anything at all?" Phoebe asked him quietly, as if speaking to someone on their death bed.

"Lena showed me the scrapbook, and everything looked familiar, but I can't really remember it," Peter sighed, feeling like a specimen in a laboratory. Again he caught Wyatt's concern filled eyes and forced himself to look away.

"It sounds like the Elders put in a mental block," Lena volunteered meekly.

"That's what I was about to say, kiddo," Phoebe smiled. "So Peter, would you be willing to let me in to remove that block?"

"Um… like as in telepathy?" Peter asked feeling cornered again.

"Yeah," Leo responded, staring tenderly at this Chris, remembering when he watched him fade away as he died and feeling a wealth of guilt build up inside of him. "Please, Chris, please," Leo pleaded.

Peter looked at each face for a moment, clearly at a loss, finally he turned to Lena. "Are you a telepath?" he asked her.

"Ye…yeah. But my mom's—"

"Can you do it?" he asked softly.

"But my mom, she's just—"

"It's just, I feel like… like you were there, you know?" Peter said. Lena seemed at a loss. She knew she was a strong telepath, but aside from the occasional dream-walking she had not gone out of her way to use that power. To skim the uppermost of people's thought was one thing, to force her way into someone's mind was totally different.

"Go ahead honey, you can do it," Phoebe encouraged.

"Um, just relax," Lena said anxiously, putting one hand to her head and the other to the side of Peter's face. "It won't hurt, I promise," she added as she activated her power. A soft yellowish glow surrounded her hands, and then the pair closed their eyes, lost to those around them.

A few moments in, Lena's hands began to shake violently, she muttered soundlessly, and it seemed as if the connection would break. Concerned, Phoebe climbed up on the couch behind her and placed her hands over Lena's strengthening the telepathic connection.

Lena's mind butted up against the mental shield the Elders had put into place. Muttering the counter-spell under her breath and pushing against it with all of the force she could muster, she felt it dissolve, opening up a typhoon of memories. As they raced by, she caught sight of several disturbing images of herself and Chris, but before she could latch onto anything, she felt him weakening in her grasp. The flurry of images mesmerized and confused her, and as Chris lost consciousness she felt the connection breaking, sending her spiraling into a world of darkness.

Chris slowly became aware. It felt as if he were waking from a particularly long and deep sleep. Eyes still closed, he could hear movement in the room, voices whispering. A soft hand reached out and took his in hers, stroking his skin delicately. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking to clear the image of Leo's face that swam in and out above him. "Dad?" he asked weakly.

Tears filled Leo's eyes. "Yeah buddy, it's me," he whispered.

"What…?" he began, then suddenly shot up to a sitting position. "Wyatt! Where's Wyatt? What about Gideon? Did you get him, did you stop him?!" Chris demanded urgently.

"I'm right here," Wyatt said uncertainly, stepping into Chris' line of vision.

"Wyatt?" Chris asked, staring at the person who looked so similar to his brother and so different at the same time. His eyes were filled with worry and sorrow, and his hair was short.

"You're in the future," Leo explained.

"The future?" Chris asked, a hand going to his abdomen and expecting to find a bloodied wound there. "So you saved Wyatt?"

"Yeah."

"And I'm home?"

"You're home," Leo assured him, tears streaming down his cheeks, restraining himself from pulling Chris into a bear hug and never letting him go. Chris looked around him for a moment, noting he was lying on his parent's bed, the same place he had been when he died. He supposed he would question them about that later. He turned to his right and saw Piper smiling down at him.

"Mom?" Chris asked. Piper smiled through tears and pulled her son into a tight hug. "You're alive?!"

"Yeah, I'm here, baby," Piper cried.

Leo could not stop himself any longer, but embraced Chris, blinded by tears and filled with joy. "I'm so sorry about what happened, Chris. I should've been there, I should've protected you."

"Hey, it was my mission, remember? It's okay. I don't blame you." Leo released him, wiping the tears from his eyes so he could stare at Chris, the Chris he had lost.

The aunts moved in for their hugs next, and Chris felt an overwhelming sense of happiness at seeing them alive and healthy. He could not bring himself to face Wyatt at the moment. So his eyes scanned the room one more time, to search for one girl in particular, but he did not see her. His heart sank as he imagined a future without his cousin in it. He must have screwed something up in his time travel trip, made it so she had never been born. Dammit. Before he could continue in his mental self recriminating he saw a shadow of movement in the doorway.

"Hey… why's everybody in here?" Lena questioned unsteadily, having woken up on the couch alone, her mind spinning from Chris' memories. Chris leapt towards her, surprising his other family members and dragging his cousin into a tight and warm embrace.

"Lena! We did it! We did it!" he triumphed. She clung to him tightly, recalling all that he was, and some of what she had been.

"No Chris, you did it, you saved the future. But now… you have to save yourself," she said, pulling away from him slightly. "There's a lot to talk about."

"So, let me get this straight. Once Gideon the Elder killed me, the other Elders decided that wasn't good enough, so they made me one of their pod-people whitelighters, and named me Peter, thinking that using a 'P' name was an awfully nice gesture on their part?" Chris demanded after the adults had filled him in as best they could. He pointedly avoided eye contact with Wyatt, not wanting to deal with that until after he dealt with the cause of his existence.

"Well, yeah… but apparently they did you a favor by preventing your soul from moving on," Phoebe pointed out.

"Yeah, I'll remember to put them on my Christmas card list from now on," Chris sputtered.

Wyatt studied this man; his 'other' brother and felt uneasiness swell within him. The Chris sitting before him had a hollowed, abused, dark look in his eyes, and it terrified Wyatt. The Chris he grew up with always had soft green eyes and he also had a cheerful disposition, usually happy and always getting himself into trouble and helping others. Somehow Wyatt could tell that he could not relate to this negative Chris at all. With a pang he wondered if this is what his brother would be like when he got out of whatever awful situation he was in.

"That's sorta funny, since just a little while ago you were going on about your undying love of the Elders," Paige commented.

"What? Me? You sure?" Chris asked with a smile.

"Well, 'Peter' I suppose. Oh man, does this mean you have like multiple personalities now?" Phoebe whined.

"Yeah, 'cause you were neurotic enough before…" Paige said thoughtfully.

He closed his eyes for a moment as if concentrating, and then blinked a few times. "No, I remember 'Peter'. Man, what a goody goody that guy was."

"I liked Peter," Tyler sighed from behind them, wanting to get into some of this fun. The Halliwell Manor had been dreary for weeks.

"Yeah, he'd be right up your alley, Ty," Chris shrugged.

"How would you know, we don't really know each other that well…" Tyler questioned nervously. "Oh right, your timeline… wow that's weird."

An awkward moment followed. No one knew quite what to say or what to do. For the Charmed Ones it had been almost twenty-three years since they had last seen this Chris, but for him it was as if only a moment had passed. However this world was different from the one he grew up in, and the one he traveled back to. He stole frequent glances at Wyatt, and finally Phoebe noticed it.

"Why don't we give Chris and Wyatt a minute together?" Phoebe suggested.

The others stood, glancing at the brothers. Lena looked between them, not sure who she meant to reassure more, and probably would have remained in the room if her mother had not gently pulled her away.

Chris and Wyatt simply stared at one another for a long moment, neither completely comfortable. "Wow, this is awkward," Chris finally sighed, breaking the silence. "For years I thought of what I'd say to you if the time-travel plan worked and I came back to the future. And now, here I am, and I can't even think of anything."

"Mom and the aunts just explained everything to me…" Wyatt began, unsure himself as he thought of all they said. How he had been evil in the future and Chris – this Chris came from the past and died to save him. However, another part of his mind kept reminding him that the Chris he had grown up with was in pain somewhere, suffering. "I'm so sorry."

"I never blamed you," Chris replied. "Sometimes I wanted to, but I never really could."

"I don't see how you didn't. I mean… I only know the bare bones of what happened, but it couldn't have been… couldn't have been easy."

"It wasn't," he said, looking down at his hands. "But I was right, something happened to yo– to my Wyatt when he was too young to understand it. So it wasn't his fault at all."

"I uh…" Wyatt looked at Chris and then at the floor. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this." He stood and all but ran from the room, leaving Chris to watch his retreating back.

The family watched Wyatt hurry by them, racing up the stairs. Lena looked between the conservatory and the stairs, clearly torn. Phoebe took her by the shoulders and turned her towards the stairs. "You go after Wyatt; we'll take care of Chris." She nodded. Alec watched everyone depart, leaving him and Tyler alone in the kitchen.

Wyatt ran into his bedroom and closed the door with a resounding slam. He sank onto his bed and lowered his head into his hands, feeling like a fool. He heard a tentative knock on his door and sighed. "Go away," he grumbled.

Instead the door opened and Lena poked her head in. "I said go away," he said but his voice held no real conviction. Lena sat down beside him and put her arm around him. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he let out a breath and leaned back. "He's not our Chris."

"I know," she replied.

"I don't know what to do. They kept this from me… from me and Chris for all this time. I wanted to know what the secret was before. And now? Right now I really couldn't care less. How is this going to help us find Chris?"

"I don't know. But Uncle Leo… maybe he has some answers."

"What if… I mean what if he's just supposed to… to replace ours?"

"No. No there's some sort of explanation for all of this. Besides, nobody could replace our Chris."

After a beat Wyatt sighed, "I feel like an idiot."

"Nah, you're not acting any dumber than usual."

Wyatt grinned momentarily and put his arm around her. "I want this to be over, I want Chris home."

"We'll figure it out. We haven't come this far just to lose him now."

"I hope you're right."

"But come on," she said, standing and pulling on his arm. "We can't run from this, Wy. We have to go downstairs and face what's happening."

He stood hesitantly and bowed his head. As they left the room, Wyatt turned and looked at the photograph of him and Chris goofing off. He felt a lump form in his throat and forced himself to turn away.

"That went well," Chris sighed. His mother and aunts were sitting with him, enjoying a bit of awkwardness themselves.

"Whatever happened… he didn't mean to be like that," Piper explained. "He's been… Chris going missing has really messed us all up."

"I bet. But I mean… other than that… has it been good? My life, I mean."

"Yes," Paige said without hesitation. "He's had a good life, they all have, thanks to you."

"And you… do you kids?" Chris asked evasively.

Paige choked back her irritation at her kids. "Yes… two girls, Prue and Nel."

"Wow, they made it," he said. "I uh… I never really got to know them the first time around, they died so young. Are they here somewhere? Can I meet them?"

"Uh no… they're not really… not really much for magic. I sent them somewhere safe."

"Oh okay. Wow there's so much I want to know about but I can't even think of what to ask," Chris said.

"Well you might not have to… if all goes according to plan," Leo said slowly.

"Why? What's the plan?"

"We should wait for Lena and Wyatt…" Leo said evasively. "They need to hear this too."

"It's bad, isn't it?" Chris asked. "Oh it must be bad, look at your face."

Leo hesitated, having a difficult time separating the son he had raised from the man he had once been hostile with and eventually had gained a deep respect and love for. His and the time traveler Chris' relationship had been very different from the one he had with his son; both good, but very different. And so while he could not have admitted it so blankly to the Chris who was missing, he found himself staring at this Chris and nodding his head. "Yeah… it's bad."

They heard movement from the hall and everyone turned to see Lena and Wyatt walking in. Alec and Tyler fell in behind them and soon the entire group was assembled in the conservatory.

"All right," Leo began, taking a deep breath and filling them in on part of what the Elders had told him.

"So we have to put my soul back together again?" Chris asked once Leo finished his story.

"Yes, and according to the Elders that will take a very powerful telepath and empath to guide the souls and join them. Since it's not that common of a combination of powers, they were relieved when both manifested in Lena. They've been releasing her powers early to prepare her for the joining."

Everyone turned to Lena and saw that she had the look of a deer caught in the headlights. "Wait… me? Why not Mom? Why would they want me to do this?"

"Well they'll need Phoebe for something else I'm sure…" Leo said slowly. "Besides, they seem to accept Wyatt, Chris, and Lena as the younger Power of Three and like to have the three of you solve your own problems."

"Problems? Um I think putting Chris' soul back together is more than just a "problem". I can't do that by myself!"

"That certainly explains what's been happening to you though," Phoebe said, not addressing Lena's statements at all. "When your eyes went white and you sensed Chris… Lena, the truth is, you are more powerful than me. The Elders did say that a psychic needs to grow into their powers, that if they're bound in childhood they never fully develop. If they say you can do this, then you can."

"Just chill Lena, we'll deal with that later. Dad, what's the next step?" Wyatt asked.

Leo appeared suddenly stricken, glancing at each expectant face in the room uncomfortably. "Whoever's soul is displaced… their body needs to be… killed," Leo whispered pointedly avoiding Wyatt's gaze.

"Greeaaaaat," Chris sighed.

"The soul is connected to the body, that's why you, Chris, disappeared when you were conceived, so that your spirit could split. We can't have a soulless body walking around."

"Something tells me you're not done dishing out bad news," Phoebe said, regarding Leo suspiciously.

"The Elders have a theory about what happened to Chris… the missing Chris…"

"Out with it," Piper ordered, hoping the anxiety she felt in waiting would be far worse than the actual news.

"It seems I might owe you an apology, Lena… The Elders think Chris is the Source of All Evil."

"No," Wyatt said. "We were through this already, it's impossible."

"It isn't, Wy. I thought it was, it should have been because of his being a whitelighter, but it seems… according to the Elders because he only had half a soul it was actually very possible."

Wyatt looked crushed, yet defiant. "I won't believe it until I see it."

"How could this have happened?" Piper cried. "How could we let this happen?"

Chris turned to his family steadily. "Well, we just had to have one Source in every generation," he interrupted calmly. "I blame Aunt Phoebe for starting this trend."

"How can you be so flippant about this?" Paige demanded.

"So my other half has become the Source of All Evil in this timeline, trust me, I've seen worse. But you don't think that he chose this himself, do you?"

Everyone shook their heads vehemently.

"Okay, good. My best guess would be that because he only had half a soul, they could fill the empty space with evil and then make sure that he lost the battle to the Source."

"You sure caught on quick," Phoebe sighed, still grasping at it herself.

"Well it's clear that I'm the brains in this little operation," Chris pointed out, trying to lighten the mood at least a little. He could see how drawn and exhausted his family was, and wondered how long Chris had been gone; how long they had the proverbial black cloud hanging over their heads. "But if he is the Source then…"

"Then we need to vanquish him again," Phoebe said.

"What's my part in all of this?" Wyatt asked with irritation. Leo looked up at him apologetically, but somehow Wyatt could tell that his expression was not to mean that Wyatt had no part; just that he would not be happy with what it was.

"Chris is the Source," Piper said, interrupting the discussion with a look of utter terror on her face as it began to sink in. "Oh my God, oh my God!"

"Piper, honey," Paige said, putting her arms around her sister.

"And we have to kill my baby… This can't be happening! It can't!" She collapsed into sobs, Paige holding her tightly and whispering comfortingly in her ear.

"Alright," Leo announced. "I think we've all have more than enough to deal with for one day. We should all get some sleep, we'll talk this out in the morning."

Chris wandered through the bedroom. It had been his when he was growing up, and it had been the Chris of this timeline's room as well. It had the look of the bedroom of an aging adolescent – posters beginning to be replaced by art prints, things that seemed childish boxed away. There were however many photos on display. Chris walked around, picking up each one and staring at it. They were mostly of his family; awkward group photos and random candid shots.

What caught his attention were how many were of him, Wyatt, and Lena. In his timeline, Wyatt going evil had thwarted all chances of a close bond between the three of them. It was something he had always wanted and wished for, and it seemed that in this changed version of the future, it had been achieved. However brief it may have been. Because Chris knew as much as everyone else did, that no matter how smoothly their plan to reunite the halves of his soul, the version of Chris they were left with would be one that no one would recognize.

"You're planning on ripping Christopher from me?" the Source asked, pacing around Lena. She stood stock still, muscles tight and tense. They were once again in the desolate dreamscape with the stone altar, surrounded by flames. "Good luck with that, by the way."

"You were listening?" Lena said, feeling guilty immediately. She should have checked, should have been sure that he was distracted before she heard anything Leo had to say. Although it dawned on her that he probably knew most of this already. After all, someone had to have known that Chris only had half a soul.

"It was all a little too melodramatic for me," he said with a smirk. "Only thing is… that other Chris said that he had "seen worse" in his timeline." Chris came up behind Lena and put his mouth against her ear. "What did he mean by that? What has he seen?"

Lena felt relieved that he had not been listening in during the more important parts of her interactions with the other Chris. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Maybe I already know?"

"I don't see how it would help you either way, to tell you the truth." She took a step away from him and turned so she could see him face to face. It was not a pretty picture; her handsome cousin's face screwed up in an expression of dark delight, his eyes soulless flames.

"And around and around we go. I never can get a straight answer out of you." He circled around her again, but she kept eye contact with him the whole time. "I wonder though – how abandoned your cousin must feel, knowing that the Halliwells have found a replacement for him."

"Don't you dare say a thing like that!" Lena shouted.

"He thinks you abandoned him," the Source smiled gleefully. "You will need him, won't you? You'll have to find him inside of me, if you hope to reunite the halved souls. But you won't Lena. He'll be buried so deep you'll never find him. What hope will you have then, I wonder? When your little plan fails so miserably?"

"CHRIS!" Lena shouted with all of the telepathic force she could muster, trying to reach her cousin within the Source. "We didn't give up on you! We never will! We're going to save you, believe me! Don't let him trick you!"

"That's quite enough of that," the Source interrupted. He flicked his fingers at Lena and a wall of flames shot up from where she stood. She screamed as her clothes and hair caught fire; as the flames grew and engulfed her. She felt her skin burning and her blood boiling and through the haze of smoke and fire she saw the Source laughing at her with mocking joy.

Lena woke up screaming. She thrashed in the bed, entangled in the sheets. Sweat poured off of her, and it was too long before she realized that she was not burning. "Lena?" Wyatt said with concern, appearing beside her in a burst of orbs.

Lena nearly jumped out of her skin. "Holy shit, Wyatt! Do not sneak up on me!"

"What's wrong?!"

"It was just a nightmare," Lena replied, shaking her head.

"Are you sure?" Wyatt asked. "Maybe it was really a vision? What did you see?"

"Nothing, it was a nightmare! Just a stupid dream, Wy." She sucked in a breath. "I'm sorry, okay, I didn't mean to go off on you, but you surprised me."

"It's okay," he said, rubbing her back. "Do you want me to stay?"

"Stay?" For a moment it looked like she would say yes, then her eyes widened. "You shouldn't be here, you have to watch over Chris at the Manor! You can't leave him alone! What if someone comes after him?"

Wyatt let out a cry of frustration. "Fine! I'm going back. Good night!"

"Good night!" Lena flopped back on her bed and sighed. She wouldn't get any more sleep that night.

A/N: Don't worry there's more Wyatt and Chris awkwardness to come (and more explanations considering what everyone's jobs are in the putting back together of Chris and the vanquishing of the Source). Anyway, let me know what you thought!